As the visions became clearer, they told the truth much better. Bidi was right; Albi was in danger. Jax received word of the attack on the capital, and he gathered that one of his advisors was lying to him. He had concerns about Albi, so he had him followed.
Albi was being very suspicious, but he was paranoid enough to have one eye in the back of his head. He was constantly looking over his shoulder. And he was certain no one was watching him, but he was being stalked by one of the finest mercenaries in the history of Frithe.
The forest was a dangerous place. Albi was accustomed to the dangers. He lived in the forest, but he had the look of a man who didn't want to be followed. Draco the mercenary watched him enter the forest from behind a bail of hay. Draco waited a few minutes for him to get deeper into the forest, but he just stood at the edge. Something peculiar was about to happen.
Out of the forest, a cloaked man emerged. Draco wanted to hear what they were saying, but he was too far away. Albi took something from the man, then they both disappeared into the forest.
Draco waited a few minutes, then he followed them through the thick bushes. The cloaked man was gone. It was only Albi now. Draco knew only one explanation could be made— Albi was in league with a sorcerer.
This was all the evidence Draco needed. He would report back to King Jax with the news, and Jax would put a small bounty on Albi's head. When Albi returned to work the next day, he was seized by the guards. "What have I done?" He asked.
Jax was there when he was being detained. He said, "for the crime of fraternizing with a mage, you are sentenced to death!"
Bidi's vision became true. The exact scene she saw would take place a few days later. Until then, Albi was held in the dungeon of the castle, which was guarded by four of Jax's most trusted knights. Albi wouldn't escape the way Faro did.
When time came to hang Albi, Bidi lost touch with reality again and passed out. As she hit the floor, she felt as if she was in the crowd watching Albi's death sentence be played out.
She was not in control of her body; it was as if she was a passenger in someone else's body. The judge gave a brief reading, then he asked if Albi Percival Stix had any last words. Albi just cackled at the thought and spat at the executioner who would pull the lever.
As soon as the judge was about to give the order to pull the lever and have the floor drop out from underneath Albi, a storm cloud formed in the empty sky. The eversun was blocked out, and it began raining. It was an ominous sign a sorcerer was near.
Everyone became frantic, but they wished to see the traitor dead. They all stayed. But flashes of light spewed from Bidi. She was casting spells, but it wasn't her— it was the sorcerer who she was infesting like a parasite.
The sorcerer rushed the stage and cut Albi down. The king roared from his balcony, "seize him!" But the sorcerer collected Albi and disappeared in a cloud of smoke. Once the smoke faded, they were gone. Then Bidi snapped back to reality, where Faro and Starry were very concerned for her.
The daunting look of worry spread across their faces. Neither of them had time to say anything, then Bidi spoke, "Albi is safe," she said calmly.
"Something is wrong," Faro told her. "You are becoming catatonic for moments at a time."
"I feel fine," Bidi said as she dusted the dirt off her shoulder and stood up with the aid of Starry.
"No," Starry agreed, "something is wrong. You need to see a doctor or something."
"Doctors won't be able to help," she said.
"Your eyes roll into the back of your head, then you start speaking in tongues unknown to man," Faro shared, "and it's becoming more frequent. That's the second time in the last three days."
